Take Me Home
by violet.worlds
Summary: A depiction of the events between Catching Fire and Mockingjay, centering around Katniss and Gale. Friendship for now, it may become romance.  On hiatus unless someone has a good idea on how to continue!
1. Chapter 1

**So, my newest endeavor into the world of fanfiction. Not sure where this is going. I have about a chapter and a half so far, and most of this chapter is the last scene of Catching Fire. Enjoy :)  
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**Until one time, I open my eyes and find someone I cannot block out looking down at me. Someone who will not plead, or explain, or think he can alter my design with entreaties, because he alone really knows how I operate.**

** "Gale," I whisper.**

** "Hey, Catnip." He reaches down and pushes a strand of hair out of my eyes. One side of his face has been burned fairly recently. His arm is in a sling, and I can see bandages under his miner's shirt. What has happened to him? How is he even here? Something very bad has happened back home.**

** It is not so much a question of forgetting Peeta as remembering the others. All it takes is one look at Gale and they come surging into the present, demanding to be acknowledged.**

** "Prim?" I gasp.**

** "She's alive. So is your mother. I got them out in time," he says.**

** "They're not in District Twelve?" I ask.**

** "After the Games, they sent in planes. Dropped firebombs." He hesitates. "Well, you know what happened to the Hob."**

** I do know. I saw it go up. That old warehouse embedded with coal dust. The whole district's covered with the stuff. A new kind of horror begins to rise up inside me as I imagine firebombs hitting the Seam.**

** "They're not in District Twelve?" I repeat. As if saying it will somehow fend off the truth.**

** "Katniss," Gale says softly.**

** I recognize that voice. It's the same one he uses to approach wounded animals before he delivers a deathblow. I instinctively raise my hand to block his words but he catches it and holds on tightly.**

** "Don't," I whisper.**

** But Gale is not one to keep secrets from me. "Katniss, there is no District Twelve."**

I stare at him, unmoving. I knew something like this must have happened, but his confirmation has me paralyzed anyway. Gale looks at me, and in his grey eyes I see exactly what I'm feeling. He remains still for a moment, his hand still holding mine, then gives it a gentle squeeze and leaves without another word.

Part of me wants to call after him, but to say what? That I'm sorry? Instead I call for more painkillers. As the medicine begins to take effect, I drift into a foggy, uneasy sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**What a chapter! I actually wrote more than two paragraphs! Unfortunately, I wrote this a while ago, and encountered major writer's block that hasn't left. I'm also short on time, so I haven't had much of a chance to overcome it. I will, though. In the meantime, ideas are welcomed and encouraged. Leave them in a review or PM me. (You can do that, right?)**

**edit: welp, my writer's block is gone. Now I have to pick one of several ideas for how the story will go...  
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When I wake, I bask in the brief moment of bliss before I regain my memory of the previous day and my conversation with Gale. A tray of food is beside my bed, and I nibble on a slice of toast despite my lack of appetite. I vaguely notice that Beetee is gone from the bed beside me. The slightly dizzying sensation of flying on the hovercraft is absent as well, indicating that I have arrived in District Thirteen.

Everything that has happened- the uprisings, the shortages, the deaths of thousands of people, the destruction of my home- all stemmed from the berries, the unintentional symbol of a better life that will never exist. All because of me. What have I done? A short while later, I am escorted into a room similar to where I attacked Haymitch. Plutarch sits in a chair at the head of the table and gestures for me to sit.

"I understand your distress at the current state of District Twelve, Katniss, and my last intention is to worsen it, but it is important you are aware of how and why this tragedy occurred."

His voice is too polite, too formal for the subject at hand. I wonder how much he won't tell me in order to spare my feelings.

"Thankfully, your house in the Victor's Village was spared, as well as-" I walk out of the room before he can tell me everything else positive about the situation. I need to hear it from someone I trust to tell me everything without under exaggerating, not Plutarch, who I barely know and don't like or trust.

I reach the door to my hospital room but continue down the hallway, stopping at a door labeled "Command." The room is deserted, and so I enter it and scroll through a computer full of nuclear weapons. I understand, now, what President Snow meant when he told me how fragile the Capitol was. He must know of the threat to his city. If the Capitol were attacked with the force of what I see on the computer, it would be destroyed in a second.

I hear people approaching and instinctively slip underneath the desk, where the lack of lighting conceals me almost completely. Two people enter the room. I overhear Plutarch saying, "I don't know. The boy Gale finally got through to her, although after relaying the message she went back under. It's a start, though."

A very quiet female voice murmurs something in return that I don't catch.

"Yes, yes, of course," Plutarch says. "I'll send him in immeadiatley."

The woman's voice is louder now as she paces away from me to a computer on the opposite wall. "Now, most of the poorer districts have fallen into our hands, thanks to the rebels. However, Districts 1, 5, and 9, are still showing much resistance, and as far as we know 2 doesn't even have a rebel force."

The woman moves on to discuss strategies to infiltrate District Two and I take the opportunity to leave the room. I silently back out from under the desk and towards the door. I glimpse the profile of Plutarch's face, but only see the back of the woman. Her hair is a perfect, unbreaking waterfall of grey with every strand in place.

Out in the hallway I stand up, straighten my hospital gown and turn back towards the hospital room as I hear someone from behind say, "You're not supposed to be in there." I whip around, startled, before I realize who the voice belongs to. A smile flashes briefly across Gale's face at my expression before he becomes solemn.

"How are you?" he asks. "Really."

"Oh, I'm just fine. I just escaped my second Hunger Games in two years, my home is nonexistent, I haven't seen my family for weeks, and the government probably has a price on my head. But really, I'm fine."

My attempt at humor is futile, of course. Gale steps closer to me and I find his arms wrapped around me tightly as I begin to sob. We stand like that for what seems like forever, and once the shaking begins to subside I pull away.

"You have to tell me everything," I say. " Don't try and sugarcoat anything to make me feel better. It won't work."

Gale's mouth twists up into a sad smile. "Does that sound like something I would do? Of course I won't. Just promise that you...that you won't..."

"Won't what?"

"We've always been able to tell each other everything. That can't change. Katniss, no matter what happens you're still my best friend. So don't try and hide anything from me. It won't work."

"Okay." Gale and I have wandered down the hallway, back towards my hospital room. We sit on the couch.

"What do you want to know?"

**Finished the chapter! I don't have anything else written yet, so I don't know if I'm going to have the next chapter include a detailed recount of D12's obliteration or if it'll just segway into the next part of the story. I was planning to keep it brief and non-romantic, but after that you-will-always-be-my-best-friend bit, I might have to extend it and make it a bit more gooey. It'll probably be more friendsy that lovey, though. Reviews, as always, are welcomed. I'll have the next chapter up ASAP. Maybe this weekend, but don't get your hopes up.  
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	3. Hiatus

**So I was just looking at my stories I've published and I completely forgot I ever wrote this. I have no idea where to go from where I left off, so unless someone leaves a review or PM's me with a really great suggestion I won't continue. Sorry about that, but I really don't know how to keep going without ruining it. **


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